It should come as no surprise to anyone who watches politics that John McCain is as conservative as he finally declared himself to be tonight. And - yes - he attempted to be that conservative while running away from the same George W. Bush he voted with 90% of the time.
But more than his speech, the entire convention was really just one political tactic. It wasn't about peeling off Hillary Clinton voters (they know they'll get very few if any), and it wasn't about reaching out to Independents (they know that they can use ad buys to do that).
No, the whole convention was designed for the purpose of making sure that Republicans as a whole stay with the party, don't bolt for Obama over the failed administration that McCain backed, and are enthustiastic supporters in November. Why? They have decided that is the only way they can win.
The American public is not stupid, and they are really angry at the current administration. That includes lots of Republicans, a great bevvy of whom also really don't trust John McCain.
Right now, Barack Obama is winning and John McCain is losing. He's losing not only in the national polls, but more importantly, he's losing terribly in places Republicans usually win. Strategically, the GOP is boxed in. Not only do they have to fight for the "traditional" battleground states (WI, IA, MO, OH, FL, etc.), but they are polling even, barely ahead, and - in some cases slightly behind in such recent GOP bastions as IN, ND, SD, AZ (yes, McCain's home state), MS, VA, NC, etc. And this is not just on the heals of the Democratic convention bounce. It's been this way for months.
So, the entire convention process, beginning with the McCain selection of Sarah Palin, has been about getting Republicans excited about him. Much has been diaried about Palin's extreme right-wing views, and while those may be viewed that way in the rest of the country, the activist (wait - are those community activists?)base of the GOP love them. In fact, the country doesn't like these views is borne out in the polling over the past few days since she was picked - and, I suspect, we're not done with her role as RSC - Republican Scandalizer in Chief. And, you know what: The GOP base won't care, because she's one of them.
The speeches we've heard for the past several days have included the "red meat" that Republicans enjoy from years (and decades) long past. This is not a search for identity, this is sort of a positive-offense version of the kitchen sink strategy: Throw every piece of red meat you can find that any Republican would want to hear in the hopes that they would all stick to some of them - and it worked.
We heard about the liberals in Washington from Mitt Romney (as if the Republicans haven't been running almost everything since 2001). We heard about media elites (that one hasn't really been out there since Nixon). Republicans, ever at war to win the next election, couldn't even stand it when Mike Huckabee took a moment to recognize Barack Obama's amazing achievement in getting the Democratic nomination - they just had to boo anyway.
We heard how incredibly well the fight in Iraq is going, with no discussion of how unpopular or unwise the decision was. We heard alot about school choice, the flag, our veterans, and barely a breath about the economy.
And - finally - when John McCain gave his speech (which was by all accounts at the most schizophrenic, and at the least somewhat flat), we heard throw aways to bi-partisanship, to change, and even to good government. And then, when it came time to tell us what he would do, John McCain towed the hard conservative party line: He accused Barack Obama of being weak on defense and wanting to increase government spending. He attacked teachers, framed healthcare in terms of socialized medicine vs. choice, regailed in the decision to invade Iraq and continue to fight (there was alot of "fight" mentioned in that speach), and he linked Iraq and Al Quaida together - while not mentioning the war in Afghanistan at all.
By talking about service to his country, and being a POW, and keeping us safe (I actually lost count of how many references there were to the whole War on Terror thing), he wrapped himself up in the flag so tight, it's a wonder his head didn't pop off. And that's another thing the Republican base just loves.
And then there were the brief moments when he attempted to say, "But I'm different." He talked about spearheading political and election reform before, but never mentioned another new idea to further that reform (which everybody agrees is still sorely needed). I guess he thinks he's fixed that issue.
McCain praised President Bush briefly for his stewardship following September 11, 2001 (remember the crowd in Minneapolis is part of that 28% that do still think he's doing a heckuva job), and when he criticized corruption - that fell flat. But he didn't tell us how he would change the system.
In short, in McCain's speech tonight - as with the convention as a whole - it was all about pleasing the Republican faithful. He may well get a bounce (one wonders who sat threw the whole, long thing), but I'm sure we'll find out that it stems more from Republicans coming back to the party than anything else. And - given the tactics going into the convention - it's a sign that the strategy has worked to their satisfaction. And it might very well put Alaska out of reach for the Obama campaign. Oh well...